Thursday, September 18, 2008

Why don't the Tories now declare themselves on Europe, etc?

Supposedly the Conservatives are as far ahead as they've ever been since Mori started doing polls. Meanwhile, the economy is set for a hard, hard landing and Labour have been in power for far too long to be able to blame anyone else.

This is a golden opportunity. The Tories should make clear their policies, including all the contentious and painful ones. In or out of Europe? In or out of our various war zones? Higher taxes or cut spending? What to do about the NHS, education and welfare? About our corrupt and overpaid financial community? About importing low-paid people; trapping our underclass in unemployment and benefit dependency, and rotting their health and sanity; and exporting people that it cost us a fortune to support, educate and medicate? And what about the dreadful farce of the voting system itself?

Because one of two things will happen:

The Tories will win, have a mandate to sort things out, and have plenty of time between now and 2010 to make the people understand who made all these adjustments necessary. Once in power, they can keep repeating these messages so we will remember who's responsible for making us drink the nasty medicine. Fair blame to be apportioned to those Conservatives who failed us in the past, too - in reality, it's hard to find anyone among the British public so ignorant and cretinous as to think that either party can present a perfect record. Whom do the spinmeisters think they are kidding?

Or they will lose, and Labour can try to clean up after itself, fail disastrously, and shuffle into the shadows of history.

Or of course, the Tories can continue to do what they are now doing, and let us draw our conclusions. Then both major parties can fragment and, with any luck, die.

So, three choices: win straight, lose straight, or be unmasked. Because I'm darned if I'll vote for a Buggins'-turn pack of careerists, merely for the sake of a change from the conspiratorial, traitorous dictators we've got now.

I've felt a kind of general air of unreality since 1997. Perhaps the dreamworld of our leaders sets the tone for the dreams of the people. I don't think I'm explaining this very well, but maybe it makes sense to you somehow.

A fear is that there will be some interference with having a general election at all. The government seems so careless of the effect of what it does, as if it has no concern for ever answering to the electorate. It makes me uneasy.

That said, it is hard to imagine a Conservative loss at any general election because there is no time for Labour to recover - replacement Leader or no - so we need to hear from the Conservatives on all the things you speak of.

Europe should be an 'in or out' decision. We can't go on trying to go against the flow all the time, unwilling member-state but not willing to leave. And referendum promises are a cop out. Our democracy is based on a manifesto and clear result voting system. The Conservatives should seek election on a manifesto of best of trading relations with the EU, as much co-ordination in infrastructures of all kinds as is in the UK interest, but a stance that is atlanticist and concerned to reestablish ties with the Commonwealth, and reorder the United Kingdom union. What meaning can a referendum have, anyway, if the alternatives are not clearly put?New Labour has always been a strand of Labour since Gaitskill. It was a strategy to permanently disrupt Conservative hegemony: regionalisation, Europe and not post imperial ties, a turning away from America, a shift from elected governance to permanent, benign, enlightened administration, the end of the system of rank (although they confused rank with class)and thus extensive constitutional change. So the Conservatives must tell us what they will do about a constitution to replace our lost liberties and rights. What they will do to reconstruct our manufacturing and industrial sector, train the work force that has been denied wealth producing and life-enhancing skills, and withdraw from indoctrination to conferring our cultures to the children.Labour will fragment, the post second war vision that still imbues Labour both old and new, is irrelevant. I'm sure it was very bad and must never happen again but it was all a very long time ago and is no basis for a modern political programme. So people will move into other parties with more up to date interests, ecological and libertarian principally I would guess. The Conservatives have to undo the groundwork laid for a low level authoritarian society whose intentions were formed for the best but in times long passed. And then really go for education, learning and research, pure and applied. Everyone who is here must be settled, and time must be taken to do that, with no new influxes to disturb that process.Blame? Not worth the argument - explanation for various nasty medicines, yes.But the sooner these anachronistic incompetents can be removed from office, the better. They are uncomfortably convinced of their righteousness.

HG, thank you very much. This is what we'd LIKE the Conservatives to do - will they?

And do you know, I too was wondering whether there might be some pretext to defer an election. After all, there's nothing written down - and even if there was, how much do law and constitution matter these days?